Title: Rumi— "The Sun in Our Sky Is Not Real"

Introduction: In Signs of the Unseen: The Discourses of Jalaluddin Rumi, Discourses #56, Rumi says "the sun in the sky is metaphoric and secondary to the real sun." Shocked by this statement from a great poet-sage, I began my meditation on the sun in science, mythology, and metaphysics. The goal is to understand Rumi's remarks and obtain some insight on the nature of the real sun.

Methods: Hindu rishis define reality as that which does not change in time and is ever-present in all three states of consciousness: waking, dream, and deep sleep— then it is real. Our sun is a middle-aged star, 4.6 billion years old. It will die in the future cooling and fading as a white dwarf. Our sun exists only when we are in the waking state and not in our dream or deep sleep states. Since our sun will not exist 5 billions years from now in the future (time) and not present in our dream or deep states, it does not fulfill the requirement of reality. Having established the unreality of our physical sun, a search in philosophical texts provided some answers on what the Real Sun might be.

Results: Apuleis in The Golden Ass writes about "sun shining at midnight". Philo in The Special Laws called "the Sun behind the sun". Dante writes in Paradiso XXX.126 "the Sun of endless spring". That which lights up our dream world when our eyes are closed at night is none other than Consciousness, which also shuts off the light in our waking world when we are in deep sleep.

Discussion: Rumi says "The sun casts light on things, and one can see things that are of no use. The real sun is that which casts light on things that are of use." The physical sun lights up our waking world which is temporal. The real sun lights up the Mind which is eternal, hence according to Rumi more useful. This insight gave me an "Eureka Moment" like Archimedes when he shouted "Eureka!" in the bathtub having discovered specific gravity, knowing how to assay real gold. This happened to Edison when he discovered carbon as the best filament for his incandescent light bulb. Paul Klee had a similar experience when he discovered the root of all colors, saying "Color and I are one. I am a painter."

Summary: The Real Sun is not the physical sun in our sky, which according to Hindu rishis do not satisfy the definition of reality. The Real Sun is the metaphysical sun in our Mind or Pure Consciousness that lights up our waking, dream, and deep sleep states. Understanding Rumi's remark on the real sun unables us to have those "Eureka Moments" like Archimedes in science, Dante in poetry, Beethoven in music, and Paul Klee in art. The Real Sun is the insight that glows within us that inspires our arts and science, and flows out in creative abundance to illuminate the world.

References: "Hymn to the Sun" (http://www.wisdomportal.com/Poems2009/HymnToTheSun.html).
Notes: "Hymn to the Sun" (http://www.wisdomportal.com/Poems2009/Notes-HymnToTheSun.html)

Abstract: In Signs of the Unseen: Discourses of Jalaluddin Rumi, Discourses #56, Rumi says "the sun in the sky is metaphoric and secondary to the real sun." Shocked by this statement from a great poet-sage, a study was done on the sun in science, mythology, and metaphysics. The goal is to understand Rumi's remarks and obtain some insight on the nature of the real sun. Using the Hindu rishis definition of reality as that which does not change in time, and is ever-present in all three states of consciousness: waking, dream, and deep sleep— we see that our physical sun is not real. A search in philosophical texts provided some answers on what the Real Sun might be. Apuleis in The Golden Ass writes about "sun shining at midnight". Philo in The Special Laws called "the Sun behind the sun". Dante writes in Paradiso XXX.126: "the Sun of endless spring". The Real Sun is not the physical sun in our sky, but the metaphysical sun in our Mind or Pure Consciousness that lights up our waking, dream, and deep sleep states. Understanding Rumi's remark on the real sun unables us to have those "Eureka Moments" like Archimedes and Edison in science, Dante in poetry, Beethoven in music, and Paul Klee in art. The Real Sun is the insight that glows within us that inspires our arts and science, and flows out in creative abundance to illuminate the world.